It is true. Facebook, like most other websites, wants you to spend as much time possible on their site. Some would argue that this is merely how a business makes money. For the most part, that's how businesses on the internet work. Yet, as people, we have to consider how we spend our own lives and what we do with our time. Facebook wants you to spend hours at a time on their website, but you have a choice as to whether you will do that. Facebook has engineers who are doing whatever they can to make the site more addictive. Do you really want to be addicted to a website? What about your children? Do you want your children to grow up being on a website that is addictive and time consuming?

A while back, people used to say that there was no way that the internet could be addictive. They said that only things like drugs and alcohol could be addictive. Websites were something everyone could walk away from. Yet, look at the world, with many people having their phones stuck in front of their faces. I think it's obvious now that a website can be addictive. I think it is apparent now that websites like Facebook change how people think. I think it's also obvious that websites like Facebook make people feel depressed when logging off and we spend much time while away from these sites thinking about something we saw on them earlier.

People Taking a Break From Facebook For a While - Only To Return Shortly After

When I was on Facebook I noticed some people who said that they had to leave for a while because they could not stand what others said. Those people always seemed to come back, sometimes within hours. Some would state that they were leaving, but post a few more things before they left. Sometimes a person would come back to "check" in but state that they were not back yet. Facebook is incredibly addictive. For many, it is the internet, and this is how Facebook wants it. You can do almost everything that you can do on other entertainment websites right in Facebook. Not only that, but you can share those things with others and see what others are doing. You do not have to even leave your screen to visit family and friends. It's an (a)social wonderland!

Do You Have More Important Things To Spend Your Time On?

Every day Facebook is engineering the site to make it harder and harder for you to get away from it. Yet, when you deactivate and leave, you don't really think much about it. Life goes on. There's so much to see, to accomplish, to do in the outside world that being on Facebook is such a waste of time. Are you going to spend your life behind a screen, or do you have something more important to live for? Do you have goals, dreams, a relationship with God, or something else that is far too important for Facebook? If so, please share in the comments. Serious about giving up Facebook? Check out our new checklist of Facebook achievements and goals for making giving up Facebook and (a)social media easier for you to achieve.

6 comments:

My daughter is certainly more important than Facebook. Any time I spend on that vile site is time I am not enjoying her during these wonderful, fun filled toddler years. I have posted some pictures of her on there, then my husband pointed out that doing so is inconsiderate because she cannot consent or object my doing so. When she grows up, will she appreciate having her picture and funny but potentially embarrassing stories posted on there for 200+ other people to see? If I have an active Facebook account, how can I tell her she cannot have one (assuming Facebook exists in a decade or so)? Still, even though I no longer post, I find myself logging in to see what people I have not seen since elementary school are doing. I know it's a waste of time, I know I gain nothing by being there, I sometimes go for months without logging in, yet I always go back. Sometimes I think my only hope is for Facebook to disintegrate and go the way of Friendster. If it doesn't exist, then I can't waste my life on it. But I know there's an underlying problem of addiction that needs to be addressed. I feel defeated by a ridiculous website. I have no other addictions in my life - no smoking, alcohol, drugs, food - I never manifested any symptoms of addiction before I started using the internet. But reading your blog helps me fight the urge to go back to Facebook.

Hi,I have been following your site for a while and I am happy to read your posts of quality!

I wonder if you can help with a problem in connection with Facebook.Unfortunately I am prone to spend and this way waste a lot of time on that site.

I have deactivated my account once or twice but the fact is that I can not delete it or even deactivate it because of my work. As a teacher I am in more than one projects and all these are connected to FB groups. I have written people some e-mails about it that they should send the same info via e-mail as well. But they just ignore it.

Even when these projects are over I will still need FB for my job.

So my questions are:How can I minimise time spent on Facebook? How can I be less frustrated without deacticating/deleting my FB account?

I have no problem with checking the work-related groups or simply send a PM even to a friend. I consider it as e-mailing. But I just get stucked on there....

This is a nasty situation to be in, and it was kind of like the situation I have been in at times. I will talk about this on my next post, as I think there is a lot to write about. For now, I would say that the best thing would be to make your profile as least enticing for you as possible to spend time on.

For example, you could make it "work only." Do not have contacts on there that are not work related. This may be hard, but you could tell family why you do not like Facebook, but let them know it is required for work. Point them to this site. Tell them that your Facebook is only for the job and you want to converse with them via e-mail or phone. I will post more on this topic later, but I hope that this helps for now. Thank you for reading!

Greetings from America, Elizabeth. The problem people have is, what we call FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Another reality is, people are afraid they will lose all of their pictures and all that when they delete their profile. It is true, you will, but you can go on and download your information, and get all of your pictures and such. I have not done this yet, but when I do, I will be ready to pull the trigger on leaving facebook soon thereafter. I recommend you do the same before leaving. I hope this helps.